Dubai plans to post a small budget deficit next year of 2.5 billion dirhams ($681 million), or 0.6 percent of gross domestic product, as it sharply raises spending on infrastructure, the government said on Wednesday. The emirate is extending its metro system, expanding its airports and road network and building other infrastructure as it gears up to host the Expo 2020 world's fair.
Total state spending will rise to 47.3 billion dirhams next year from 46.1 billion dirhams originally planned for the 2016 budget. Infrastructure spending is to jump 27 percent to reach 17 percent of total expenditure. The projected 3 percent rise in total spending marks a sharp slowdown from the 2016 budget, in which spending increased 12 percent, and a 9 percent rise in 2015.